faulker042

The hollies in the foreground will mature to create a hedge behind the bench. May 2012. Je ne regrette rien. I regret nothing. The conversion of several hardwood mulched garden beds and gravel parking space to one large gravel garden is working. Over one year later and I'm a very happy gardener. The history of the gravel garden can be viewed with this link . Gravel gardens aren't for everyone. We don't live in the southwest or west coast where gravel is widely used. This is the southeast where folks love lush lawns, flower-packed or woodland gardens. We live on a large rural property of over four acres with two acres of meadow grass out front while the back half is in woods. We have a sufficient proportion of soft grass, forest and gardens to balance the portion of gravel used. Our house is English-inspired, but adapted for our climate. The same is true for the gravel garden. The inspiration comes from England, but it must work here in the southeastern United States. When u...

Spirea 'Magic Carpet' (back) Japanese blood grass 'Red Baron' (middle) Shasta 'Broadway Lights' (front). May 27, 2012. While rearranging the garden last fall, I was inspired to move, rather than give up on a Japanese blood grass ( imperata cylindrica rubra var. koenigii 'Red Baron') that had been struggling during drought. By the end of summer 2010, the poor thing was looking rather sad and I wasn't sure if it could be saved. Surrounding it with plants to shade its roots seemed the best solution. The red color of the grass echoes the deep red of a spirea 'Magic Carpet' in my garden. Please note: The species Japanese blood grass is on the noxious weed list of many states. In 2009, the reputation was so bad and the confusion so widespread that a local nursery couldn't sell blood grass. After a few months of waiting, I was allowed to purchase the better-behaving cultivar. If you are shopping for this grass, make sure you purchase   imperat...

Deep rose wine cups ( callirhoe involuncrata ) scampers over lavender perennial heliotrope, gold leaf tansy and purple sedum. Wine cups splash a long way in the garden—literally! The tender stems of lacy foliage are far-reaching. The blooms lightly dance over, under and around other plants. This isn't a monster plant that takes over. You can easily cut or reroute the thin vines to your liking. This native perennial, callirhoe involuncrata , isn't a specimen plant. This is a mingler, a socialite that loves to engage fellow plants in pleasant combinations. Place it where it can party in the garden in zones 3-9.  Speaking of party time, wine cups are early to bed, closing up in the evening and opening again with morning light. Rabbits have a taste for wine cups. I've never tried this among deer, assuming that they'd like to attend a wine cups tasting, too. I have only one plant inside the cottage garden fence, purchased in 2010 and then moved to position it away from the p...

Purple milkweed ( asclepias purpurascens ) attracts bees and other pollinators. A Monarch Butterfly host plant. May 2012 The first milkweed to bloom in my garden is ascelpias purpurascens , a native wildflower. Blooming and returning reliably this purple milkweed was purchased and planted four years ago. To date, there are only two seedlings that have volunteered nearby. Unlike common milkweed ( ascelpias syriaca ), this one isn't an agressive self-sowing perennial and I'd actually like to see more of this asclepias variety. Being deer and rabbit resistant, the only issue I've had has been with the orange and black milkweed bugs eating the blooms. I pick those bugs off the flowers and send them packing. The large globe blooms attract pollinators and the leaves are food for the caterpillars of the Monarch butterfly—though they seem to like the thin-leaved swamp milkweed ( asclepias incarnata ) when choosing plants in my garden for egg-laying. There have been times when I...

Peony poppy Frilly blossoms weren't intentional, but reading the  May Dreams: Finished with the Frilly Flower Phase  post prompted me to take a look around my own garden. Yes, there are some fru-fru flowers tucked here and there that are blooming right now. I don't grow peonies, but I grow peony poppies and that was my criteria when selecting this poppy. The full flowers fit the frilly flower formula. Peony poppies self-sow if you allow the seeds to ripen. Just shake the pods around and wait until next year.  I'm still hoping my pale pink and nearly black (purple) ones will bloom. We had an incredibly warm winter and the poppy germination rate has (so far) been disappointing. Unlike me, poppies like a bit of a cold winter. A mix of dianthus. I scattered seeds of "mixed" dianthus in the cottage garden, for the fragrance, not the frill.  These sweet little pinks are so easy to grow and now that I take into account the frilly factor—I do find the form flattering on t...

Coreopsis is surrounded by ground covers with near-twin blooms of light purple verbena 'Imagination' and heliotropium amplexicaule. Shades of pink, purple and blue have dominated my cottage garden over the years. I shook things up a bit this year with addition of bold gold in the form of a native wildflower, coreopsis.  Yet, I'm not quite sure of the circumstances. The seed packet (I took a photo) said "coreopsis palmata" (prairie coreopsis), but the flowers look like coreopsis lanceolota to me. What do you think? Sown from seeds last year, the success rate has been almost overwhelming! While the coreopsis is great for poor soil, given the good soil of the cottage garden, the mounds are huge, full and extra tall (close to three feet high). There is another possibility regarding the seeds. I sowed a packet of "mixed cottage garden" seeds that included annuals and perennials. Perhaps this coreopsis came from that mix instead? The hint at this possibility ...

Sweet, spicy and chocolate—Aztec Chocolate Chile Cookies are perfect for Cinco de Mayo . I learned to make these cookies during the winter and served them with chocolate chile espresso pot de creme. My husband and I decided that these are among the best cookies in the world! In other words, these cookies will disappear rather quickly. The recipe that I used came from the blog, Savour Fare . I altered the recipe by using powdered ancho chile instead of chipotle. My photos were taken with an iPhone and therefore don't really show the darker color of the chocolate cookies as the photos on the recipe blog. The cookies while cooling...before they disappeared! I used Madagascar vanilla and Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa. Using quality ingredients will give you the best results. The cinnamon, honey and ginger add so much to the flavor and if you love ginger snaps, just imagine those flavored with intense chocolate and dash of spicy chile. The chile isn't overwhelming at all, so do...